GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) softball team hit six home runs to defeat Western Carolina, 9-4, in the Southern Conference championship contest Saturday at sun-splashed UNCG Softball Stadium.
The six home runs were a SoCon tournament single-game record. With 89 home runs, the Spartans also established a SoCon single-season record for most homers, passing Western Carolina's previous standard set in 2006.
With the victory that was officially clinched at 3:21 p.m. Eastern Standard Time after senior second baseman
Jasmine Palmer caught a popup beyond second base, UNCG clinched an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The selections and pairings will be revealed Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
UNCG (34-15 overall) rolls into the NCAA Tournament with eight straight victories and 16 triumphs in its last 17 outings.
"We did it," Palmer said. "I am proud of this team and the fight we have for one another. That game was a battle. We had each other's backs throughout the whole game no matter what. We stuck with it and picked each other up. We played UNCG softball together as one. As a family. That moment (of the final out) was just an accumulation of everything that we put into this and of sacrificing everything that we wanted to do so that we could be out here on the field."
The Spartans are the third UNCG athletic program in 2020-21 to win a SoCon Tournament championship and participate in the NCAA Tournament, joining men's basketball and men's soccer.
UNCG sophomore third baseman
Maycin Brown was named the SoCon Most Outstanding Player. Joining Brown on the So All-Tournament team were senior
Makenna Matthijs and sophomore
Morgan Scott, who won her 20th game with a gritty effort in the circle.
Jordan Gontram and
Katie Stettler were named the Pinnacle Award winners given to the student-athlete on the championship-winning team with the highest grade point average.
UNCG got two home runs from senior
Kayleigh Willis along with blasts from Brown, Matthijs,
Delaney Cumbie, and
Hannah Kincer. This was the third time this season that the Spartans hit six home runs in a single game.
Willis' blast was the offensive exclamation point on a memorable three-day performance for UNCG, which hit 16 home runs against Western Carolina in the last seven days.
"This moment and this championship means everything to me," Willis said. "It's so great watching the program grow from my freshman year and continually get better. The team dynamic here is great. Everyone on this team has worked together to make this a reality. We play for the person to the left and right of us."
Despite the five-run margin of victory, this game was lot more stressful for the Spartans.
Western Carolina battled back from a 5-1 deficit to close to within, 5-4, with nobody out in the fifth inning and the bases loaded. That's when Scott allowed her blue-ribbon defense to go to work.
Western Carolina's Jeralynn Wells hit a line drive that Matthijs caught and fired immediately to Palmer, who stepped on second to complete the double play. The next batter Lindsay Perillo fouled out to
Melanie Darges. Threat thwarted.
Even after Kincer homered and Palmer smashed a RBI double to score Brown in the bottom of the fifth to swell UNCG's lead to 7-4, Western Carolina loaded the bases in the sixth inning and had the go-ahead run at the plate in Kailey McNeil, one of the top hitters in the SoCon. Scott induced a ground ball to end the inning.
Cumbie and Willis went back-to-back to give UNCG its second Southern Conference championship game victory in four years. They scored two runs each as did Brown.
Western Carolina made a line-up adjustment and it paid immediate divendends as Bailey Honeycutt batted second and had a pair of hits. Myra Twitty hit her second homer in as many days for the Catamounts. Savannah Baldwin also had two hits for Western Carolina, which led 1-0.
Willis and Matthijs doused head coach
Janelle Breneman with water following her postgame message to the team in centerfield. Breneman was caught by surprise. On a warm afternoon the refreshing feeling of cold water had to be soothing especially since it was a celebratory shower.
The Spartans aren't finished yet. They aren't just happy to have their name called Sunday night.
"I am so proud of how we played and fought all weekend," Breneman said. "To play three consecutive complete games is not easy, but I knew this team could do it. We came focused on what we needed to do. I know our offense is hard to stop. The kids are attacking and have confidence in the box.
"We're ready for regionals and we'll see where we are sent. The Spartans are going to be ready to come out attacking and we are going to have some fun at regionals and we are going to get a win."
